It took three months for the DTI to release this
consultation. Given the summary nature of the document, we find
this extraordinary.

The consultation document fails to include any
reference to PIU recommendations where urgent action was required.
In particular, it omits any reference to the PIU's conclusion
that the split of departmental responsibilities relating to energy
policy lacks coherence, and its recommendation that a cross­cutting
Sustainable Energy Unit should be created as a matter of urgency.

The conclusions the PIU came to were built on
an excellent series of scoping notes, extensive public consultation,
and considerable analysis. The report is also a complex document
which does not readily lend itself to summarisation. Given the
enormous and thorough consultation process which the PIU engaged
in we fail to understand whythe Government cannot come
to its own view on the basis of all the evidence collected by
the PIU, rather than engage in a further round of consultation.

115. We are therefore concerned that the DTI's
consultation on energy may fail to take forward the debate on
the basis of the PIU recommendations, and is in danger of simply
revisiting all the issues which the PIU themselves covered. We
also find it somewhat ironic that the role of the PIU was to adopt
a cross­departmental perspective and bring fresh thinking
to the debate and yet the consultation on the PIU report and the
preparation of an Energy White Paper is now being managed by the
Department of Trade and Industry.